78R4601 JMM-D

By:  Lindsay                                                      S.B. No. 579



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the confidentiality of certain records in an adoption 
placement by the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 162, Family Code, is 
amended by adding Section 162.0065 to read as follows:
	Sec. 162.0065.  EDITING ADOPTION RECORDS IN DEPARTMENT 
PLACEMENT.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, in 
an adoption in which a child is placed for adoption by the 
Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, the department is 
not required to edit records to protect the identity of birth 
parents and other persons whose identity is confidential if the 
department determines that information is already known to the 
adoptive parents or is readily available through other sources, 
including the court records of a suit to terminate the parent-child 
relationship under Chapter 161.
	SECTION 2.  Section 261.201(d), Family Code, is amended to 
read as follows:  
	(d)  The adoptive parents of a child who was the subject of an 
investigation and an adult who was the subject of an investigation 
as a child are entitled to examine and make copies of any report, 
record, working paper, or other information in the possession, 
custody, or control of the state that pertains to the history of the 
child.  The department may edit the documents to protect the 
identity of the biological parents and any other person whose 
identity is confidential, unless this information is already known 
to the adoptive parents or is readily available through other 
sources, including the court records of a suit to terminate the 
parent-child relationship under Chapter 161.
	SECTION 3.  (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                       
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to the 
records of a child who is placed for adoption by the Department of 
Protective and Regulatory Services on or after the effective date 
of this Act.  The records of a child who is placed for adoption by 
the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services before the 
effective date of this Act are governed by the law in effect on the 
date the child was placed for adoption, and the former law  is 
continued in effect for that purpose.